Monday, June 30, 2008

Guantanamo Detainee Charged for Role in USS Cole Attack

Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartman, legal advisor to the convening authority for the Office of Military Commissions, announces at a June 30, 2008, Pentagon press conference, that charges have been sworn against 'Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi national of Yemeni descent. It is alleged that Al-Nashiri, an al-Qa'ida operative, participated in the planning and preparation for the attack on the guided missile destroyer USS Cole on Oct. 12, 2000, that killed 17 U.S. sailors and wounded 47. Defense Dept. photo by R. D. Ward

By Donna MilesAmerican Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 30, 2008 – A Saudi Arabian national being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has been charged with planning and preparing for the attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 U.S. sailors and wounded 47 others, the Defense Department announced today.

Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri was charged today in connection with the Oct. 12, 2000, attack on the vessel as it awaited refueling in the Port of Aden in Yemen, Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann, legal advisor to the convening authority in the Office of Military Commissions, told Pentagon reporters today.

The chief prosecutor has recommended that the case be tried as a death-penalty case.

Susan J. Crawford, the convening authority, will review the case and determine which, if any, of the charges should be referred for trial by a military commission, Hartmann said. If she refers the case for trial, Crawford must also decide if she will refer it as a capital case.

The Nashiri swearing brings to 20 the number of detainees at Guantanamo Bay involved in the military commissions process, Hartmann said.

He noted that the military commissions process provides the accused several protections, including representation by a military counsel and a civilian counsel of his own choosing at no expense to the government. The protections, guaranteed by the Military Commissions Act, ensure that Nashiri “receives a fair trial consistent with American standards of justice,” Hartmann said.

Nashiri was charged today with conspiracy to violate the law of war, murder in violation of the law of war, treachery or perfidy, terrorism, destruction of property in violation of the law of war, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, providing material support to terrorism and attempted murder.

Charges brought against Nashiri today claim he rented apartments and facilities near the Port of Aden to prepare for an attack, bought the boat and explosives used in the attack and arranged for two co-conspirators to launch the attack.

During the attack, two men dressed as civilians are alleged to have piloted what looked like a small, civilian garbage barge up to the ship. The two men allegedly made friendly gestures to crewmembers aboard the ship before detonating explosives hidden in their boat that blasted a 40-foot hole in the side of Cole.

Nashiri also was charged with participating in the unsuccessful attack on the USS The Sullivans as it refueled in the Port of Aden on Jan. 3, 2000, and for helping attack the French supertanker SS Limburg in the Gulf of Aden on Oct. 6, 2002. That attack left one crewmember dead and spilled about 90,000 gallons of oil into the gulf.

Nashiri was arrested in October 2002 in the United Arab Emirates and was under CIA custody before being transferred to Guantanamo Bay in 2006.

Hartmann said the charges issued today result from an extensive investigation that brought together the intelligence and law enforcement communities. “We’d rather do it right. We’d rather do it thoroughly. We’d rather do it fairly than quickly,” he said.

If the Nashiri case goes to trial, Hartmann said the defense counsel will have the opportunity to argue points before the military judge, including allegations that Nashiri was subjected to the “waterboarding” interrogation technique by the CIA. “The judge, just as in any matter of law, will make a final decision as to the validity of any piece of evidence,” he said.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman emphasized the Defense Department’s commitment to “ensuring that both the process and the military commissions proceedings themselves are as transparent as possible, within the bounds of security and safety.”

The United States has used military commissions for war crime trials since the Revolutionary War, he noted.

MOO-VING CLOSER - U.S. Army Spc. Joseph Santalucia takes time to spread a little joy, not only to the people of the Taji Qada, northwest of Baghdad, with whom he works to help on a daily basis, but also to one lucky cow, June 21, 2008. Santalucia is an infantryman with the 25th Infantry Division's Company B, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, Multinational Division Baghdad. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Brad Willeford

Today in History1619 - The Virginia House of Burgesses, the first U.S. elective governing body, is formed. 1729 - The City of Baltimore is founded.1733 - In Boston, the Society of Freemasons opens its first American lodge.1792 - France's national anthem - the "Marseillaise" - is first sung.1839 - Rebel slaves take over the Amistad.1863 - President Abraham Lincoln issues an "eye-for-eye" order - for every Black prisoner shot by Confederates, a Rebel prisoner will be shot.1864 - Battle of the Crater (Petersburg campaign).1870 - The Staten Island ferry "Westfield" burns, killing 100.1908 - The Around the World Autombile Race ends in Paris.1909 - The U.S. Army accepts delivery of the first military airplane.1913 - The 2nd Balkan War ends.1916 - German saboteurs blow up a munitions plant in New Jersey.1942 - FDR signs the bill creating the Womens' Navy Auxiliary agency (WAVES); the German SS kills 25,000 Jews in Minsk.1946 - At White Sands, NM, the first rocket attains an altitude of 100 mi (167 km) altitude1956 - The U.S. motto "In God We Trust" is authorized.1965 - LBJ signs the Medicare bill; it goes into effect the following year.1971 - A Japanese Boeing 727 collides with an F-86 fighter, killing 162; the U.S. Apollo 15 lands on the Moon.1974 - The U.S. House of Representatives recommends three articles of impeachment for President Richard M. Nixon.1975 - Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa disappears in suburban Detroit.1983 - In California, the official speed record for a piston-driven aircraft is set at 832 kph.1984 - The Alvenus tanker spills 2.8 million gallons of oil in Louisiana.1988 - Ronald J. Dossenbach begins his world record ride, pedaling across Canadafrom Vancouver to Halifax.